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Lord Mayor's Fund

This charitable fund arose out of a 1921 conference called by Melbourne's then Lord Mayor, Donald Swanson (1859-1940). Influenced by the success of patriotic fund-raising methods developed during World War I and ideas of centralised charity imported from the United States, the fund was designed to concentrate appeals with the money to be distributed among metropolitan hospitals and benevolent institutions. A secular successor to the Hospital Saturday and Sunday Appeal, whose activities it incorporated in 1923, the fund never attained the coverage of the community chests adopted in some suburban areas, but it continues to make a substantial contribution to local charities.